If you need another reason why DRM does not make sense whatsoever read on. The PC version of Gears of WAR apparently has a expiration system build in that ran out on January 28, 2009. That’s right. If you legally bought the game you cannot play it anymore because the digital certificate expired. Does it make sense to specify an expiration date? Not really unless you would not sell but make the games available for rent.
Probably as disturbing is the fact that it is possible to overcome the problem by changing the date of the system to one prior to January 28. If this was supposed to be some kind of protection it was more than useless considering that the system data is checked for the data and not some server on the Internet.
It does look more like a blunder of someone forgetting to renew the certificate for the game. That again leaves the question unanswered why the game needs a certificate in first place.
No word yet on the piracy front but bets are 10:1 that the pirated copies of Gears of War are working just fine. If you bought the game you can either change your system date or wait for an official patch which is said to be out soon. Epic Fail so to speak..
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5 Responses to “Gears Of War PC Hits Expiration Date”
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[...] keistis ne tik žmonių namuose, bet ir versle. Pavyzdžiui, ima trauktis DRM užraktai. Kiekvienas naujas fiasko su tais užraktais yra dar viena vinis į karstą su spynelėmis. (Gal ir Artojas pakeis nuomonę, kad DRM neturi [...]
Maybe this is a way to locate all of the hacked versions. :)
A number of secure websites encountered the same issue. The signing authorities used to provide a certificate chain that expired Jan 28, 2009. I had to update the chain on one of the websites I manage.
More info from globalsign about this issue: http://globalsign.com/support/intermediate/serversign_ca_expiry.php
When you post this type of article it would be a great service to us for you to also post a link or e-mail we can use to chide them for their error [and possibly push along the fix]. I own the game, but I just bought it on sale, and I haven’t even opened the package yet. Who better to tell them what I think of their little game.
Will do from now on, thanks for the tip :)